Today, we left Colorado. It was a bitter sweet. On one hand, I’m ready to move on. The Grand Tetons and Yellowstone National Park are on the horizon, but I can’t help feeling a little sad. We’ve spent over two weeks in this beautiful state and we’ve only scratched its surface.

A journal from earlier in our journey… Today, we left Colorado. It was a bitter sweet. On one hand, I’m ready to move on. The Grand Tetons and Yellowstone National Park are on the horizon, something I’ve been looking forward to us seeing since we started planning this trip, but I can’t help feeling a little sad. We’ve spent over two weeks in this beautiful state and we’ve only scratched its surface. While here, we visited:

Different birds (Hummingbirds, Mountain Bluebirds and the Steller’s Jays were my favorites.)

A mountain sheep

A yellow bellied whistling marmot (No, I did not make that name up.)

Yet with every new place we visited, we learned about so many more we didn’t. Even now, I’m making a list of places to visit next time like Black Canyon (Gunnison), Royal Gorge (Colorado City), the Air Force Academy (Colorado Springs), the Incline (Manitou Springs), Denver Art Museum, Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park (Estes Park) just to name a few. We could surely spend another month in Colorado and still not see everything, so I have to be thankful for the time we spent here.

I’m thankful for the friends we saw too. Our dear friends, the Statlers, even hosted Elliana’s thirteenth birthday party in their home (omg, I’m the mother of a teenager!). We played with newborn Golden Retriever puppies, ate hamburgers, devoured cupcakes and played Apples to Apples and One Night Ultimate Werewolf. She loved it!

Before our journey began, I had wondered how to handle her party. Elliana is sanguine, so celebrating her birthday without friends might have been a disappointment. But thanks to this amazing family, she had the perfect party. Truly, I can’t thank them enough.

Feeding bison at Terry Bison Ranch

Hello Wyoming

So here we are heading north. We passed through Denver and Fort Collins and mistakenly drove down the worst/bumpiest dirt road as we crossed the border into Wyoming, just outside of Cheyenne. The landscape has changed once again. The dramatic mountains and soaring rocks have given way to rolling grasslands. I can’t help but wonder what settlers thought when they first saw this land. After the crowded cities of Europe, these wide-open spaces probably looked like heaven. And they’re still wide open.

The people are changing too. After Colorado Springs’ urban vibe that brings a certain rush, the western, rural setting of Wyoming requires a downshift. The people are genuine, relaxed and comfortable. The glitz, rush and impatience of DFW is left far behind in the rearview mirror. It’s clear that these people work hard but enjoy a slower pace of life.

Even now, the difference is obvious. I’m typing this while I sit in the laundry room at Terry Bison Ranch. It’s the first RV resort laundry room where the patrons sit and wait for their laundry. Usually, we all throw our clothes in the washer/dryer on our way to somewhere else, but not here. Here, the people sit, read a book, talk to a neighbor, write a blog and wait for the next available machine. It’s less hurried. Wranglers, men’s hats (cowboy or ball caps) and big trucks are the couture du jour. On the shelf in front of me are dog-eared books like How the West was Won and an action thriller by Clive Cussler. The nearby newspaper heralds a front-page article on the Wyoming School of Horseshoeing. We’ve clearly arrived in America’s West.

Tomorrow, we’re planning a train ride out to feed the bison. Sure, we might miss Colorado in the short term, but it’s clear we’ve got lots and lots yet to see.

Yesterday was a big travel day for us as we finally made it to Colorado in our RV. And boy, this state definitely did not disappoint. We started the day leaving Chama, New Mexico, a beautiful, forest-filled area just 35 miles from the Colorado border and heading to Gunnison, Colorado. I had miscalculated the time it would take for us to make the journey. I had thought it would take 2 ½ hours. Instead, it took 4 ½ hours. But man, what a drive.

We Left New Mexico for Colorado

Chama is at the southern tip of the Rocky Mountains. As we drove, the roads began to curve up, down and around the mountains. We saw steep cliffs, huge fir and aspen trees covering the roadside. We’d wind and climb our way to the top and then wind and descend our way to the bottom only to start again. At one point, we were at an elevation of over 13,000 feet high, then turned into a steep downward 7% grade that forced us to travel no faster than 25 mph.

Driving Our RV through Colorado

There’s nothing quite like navigating twisting mountain roads with 10,000 pounds pushing you along the way. We finally learned what the 2nd and 1st gears on our automatic truck were for. Those accustomed to pulling large loads or driving on rough roads would have smiled at our inexperience. If I’d had cell service, I would have put in a call to my brother who regularly pulls horse trailers up and down the East Coast.

At one point, after Chris had spent quite a bit of time riding the breaks, he asked me to pull out the driver’s manual and read about when to use the 2nd and 1st gears as well as 2WD verses 4WD. We’re glad he did because the adjustment made all the difference. Here’s what we learned:

2WD is for normal, everyday road driving

4WD is for loose or rocky roads (4WD-Lo is for speeds of no more than 25 mph, 4WD-Hi is for speeds up to 45 mph)

1st gear is for steep inclines/declines up to 25 mph

2nd gear is for steep inclines/declines up to 45 mph

Three of Colorado’s National Forests

As we drove through the mountains, we passed through three national forests: San Juan, Rio Grande and Gunnison. As beautiful as it was, there was also a large number of dead trees standing in the forests. I remembered learning during an earlier trip the Colorado with my dear friend Glenda Bunkofske that Colorado trees have experienced an insect infestation from the mountain pine beetle, a little creature that is no bigger than 5 millimeters. It’s pretty amazing that something so tiny can cause so much devastation. This tiny insect has largely contributed to the widespread death of Colorado’s trees and the result is a larger threat of forest fires.

The Rio Grande River and The Great Divide

We also discovered that the mouth of the Rio Grande River, which flows through Texas to the Gulf of Mexico begins in this area. The Rio Grande, which my kids studied during Cycle 3 in Classical Conversations, is the third longest river in America, right behind the Mississippi and the Colorado.

We crossed the Great Continental Divide, which I’ve looked forward to seeing ever since I watched the Disney movie, [amazon link=”B00O8NVF86″ title=”Across the Great Divide” link_title=”Across the Great Divide” /] as a child. I’m in process of planning a movie night for our family.

Gunnison, Colorado

When we finally arrived in Gunnison, the land had changed yet again. Beautiful grass covered mesas surrounded the Gunnison Reservoir. The landscape looks so stunning, it reminds me of anOlan Mills photography studio backdrop.

The entire day, I kept taking pictures out the window because every twist in the road brought another breathtaking scene. We moved from craggy mountain cliffs to evergreen forests to rolling mesas. Just beautiful. I hope the pictures capture even a fraction of the story.